Receiving table for glass sheets



W. OWEN RECEIVING TABLE FOR GLASS SHEETS Filed Oct. 6, 1955 I5 Sheets-Sheet l IN VEN TOR Dec. 11, 1934. w. OWEN 1,983,769

RECEIVING TABLE FOR GLASS SHEETS IN VENT OR MIL-LIP (Du/5N.

BY -@M/ Dec. 11, 1934. w. OWEN RECEIVING TABLE FOR GLASS SHEETS Filed Oct. 6, 1935 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENT OR MILLAHM O EN. BY

TTORNEYS.

Patented Dec. 11, 1934 1,983,769 A, RECEIVING TABLE FOR GLASS SHEETS I WilliamOwen, Pittsburgh, Pa,- assignor-to Pitts-.1 j

burgh Plate Glass Pennsylvania Company, a corporation of Application October 6, 1933, Serial No. 692,506 7 6 Claims. (01. 2145-130 The invention'relates to a roller receiving and forwarding tablefor glass sheets designed particularly for use in connection with a straightaway glass cutting apparatus, but useful in any 5 relation in which it is necessary to transfer glass sheets from a vacuum frame or other like carrier to a horizontal runway. The device include'sfa tilting frame whichswings from an upright position, at which it receives the sheets from the vacuum frame or carrier to a horizontalposition, where the sheets are supported on rollers and carried forward to other sections of the runway to be acted upon by the cutting or'other devices employed in processing the glass. The invention has for its objects; the provision of an apparatus of the character'specified which operates within the side limits of the runway, so that less-space is occupied than is the case where a tilting frame is used which is located at one side of the runway and outside the side limits. thereof; and the provision of a construction in which the toe-or ledge on the tilting'frame which supports the sheet, when the frame is inupright receiving position, is movedaway from the edge of the sheet when the frame istilted to horizontal position, so that suchtoe or ledge does not interfere with the subsequent movement of the glass along the runway. One. embodiment of the invention is il lustrated in the accompanying drawings,

wherein: i I

Figure 1 is a plan view of the receiving table.

; Fig. 2 is a side elevation. Fig. 3 is a section on spring 21 lying between the bearing '22 and the .ball.v This arrangement provides a friction drive the, line III-.-l1Iof Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is.an end elevation. And Figs. 5 and 6 are enlarged detail views, Fig. 5 being a section on the line V- -.-V of Fig. 1, and Fig. 6 a section on the line V IVI of such figure.

.,R.eferring to the drawings, the support of the framework of the table comprises four upright angles 1, 1 and 2, .2 secured together by thev channels 3, 3, 3, 3. Mounted for rotationin this framework are a series of shafts 4,- 4, 4, etc., each provided with roller discs 5, 5, 5, etc., the shafts being journalled in their ends in the bearings fi, 6, 6, etc. The shafts 4 are provided with sprockets: '7 at their ends, over which passes the chain 8 and such chain is driven from the motor 9 throughsuitablereduction gearing in the casing 10. Mounted for tilting movement on theframework is a transfer frame. consisting of the end bars 11 and 12 and the transverse arms 13, 13, etc., such arms being spaced so that they come between the shafts 4, 4, 4, etc. with the upper surfaces of the bars below the upper peripheries of the roller discs 5, 5, 5, etc. when 17, 17, 17, etc., which are journalled at their the frame isin thehorizontal position illustrated in the drawings. This frame is pivoted upon a pair of pins"14,j14, each carried by a pair of plates 15, 15 rigidly-secured to theupperends of the angles 1, 1. 'Ifhispermit'sthe frame to 5 be tilted from the horizontal position, shown in Fig. 4 tothe' upright position indicated at A in'dotted lines in such figure, the latter being the position occupied when a glass sheet is transferred from a vacuum frame or othercarrier 'to the tilting frame; Each, of the shafts 4, 4,4,

etc. is provided v at its end with a ball joint 16 by, I eans of which the shafts have driving connection with a series of other shorterlshafts inner ends in a transverse bar 18 'carried by the tilting frame, as indicated in Fig. 5. The outer ends of the shafts 17 arejournalled in the bar v.11, as indicated in detail in Fig, 6. Theseshafts 1'7, I'Tetc. are each provided with roller discs 18a, 18a, 18%, etc. Similar to theroller discs 5. Theballjoints provide a meansjfor driving the shafts 17 from the shafts] 4 and .at the same time permit this driving connection to be maintained when the table istilted from horizontal to upright position.

The ball joint connection between the two shafts is preferably of the form shown in Fig. 5. A ball is. secured to the end of the shaft 1'7 and engages 'a ball recess in the'block 20 carried by the shaft 4. The shaft 17 with its ball. 19 is yieldingly pressed toward the block 20 by means of a for the shaft 1'7, the shaft 17 being slidable through the bearing members 22 and 23, to which members the shaft is splined so that the hearing members rotate with the shaft. The center line B about which the ball joints turn (Fig. 1) is coincident with the center lines of the .pivots 14,'14,,so that the sections of the ball joints coordinate in all positions of the tilting frame. Each ofthe shafts '4with its extension 17 is thus driven as a unit when the table is in horizontal position and a'uniform forwarding force is thus applied to the glass sheet resting upon the table throughout its width. There is thus no tendency for the sheet to twist on the table, as it is forwarded by the rollers, as would be the case if the shaft sections 17 were not used in addition to the shaft sections 4. r

The table is preferably tilted by means of a motor 24, which drives a shaft 25 with crank arms 26 connected thereto, such crank arms being attached to the tilting frame by means of the connecting rods 27, 27. The glass sheet to be laid upon the table is applied to the tilting frame when such frame is in upright position, as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 4, and in order to support the glass against downward movement when it is released from the vacuum frame, the toe or abutment 28 is provided on the bar 11, such abutment being pivoted upon suitable brackets 29, as indicated in Fig. 4. The abutment or toe is normally held at right angles to the tilting frame, as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 4 by means of springs 30 interposed between the end of the toe and the angle brackets 31 carried by the tilting frame. When the frame is moved to horizontal position, however, it 'is de sirable to have the abutment or toe tilted away from the edge of the frame so that it no longer engages the edge of the glass sheet, and this tilting movement is accomplished by means of the pairs of links 32, 33, the links 133 being pivoted at their inner endsto the frame members 1, 1. When the tilting frame is moved to upright position, the links 32, 33 fold back, as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 4, thus permitting the springs 30 to swing the toe to the dotted line position. When the frame is moved to horizontal position, the links 32 and 33 cause the toe to tilt, thus compressing the springs. It is desirable that the edge of the glass sheet lying next to the abutment or toe should be out of contact therewith when the glass sheet is moved forward over the table by the roller discs 5 and 18a, as otherwise the movement of the sheet is retarded, tending to twist it, and there is a cutting action upon the toe or abutment.

As heretofore indicated, the peripheries of the discs 5 and 18a lie above the transverse arms 13 constituting the tilting frame when such frame is in horizontal position so that when the motor 9 is operated and the shafts are rotated, the glass sheet is carried forward onto another runway on which the glass is cut or treated in any desired manner. The total width of the apparatus from side to side is no greater than if the tilting frame were dispensed with, thus making the apparatus more compact than is the case where a separate tilting frame is employed at the side of a runway. Furthermore, with the present construction, there is no necessity ofshoving the glass sideways on the receiving table after the tilting frame is moved to horizontal position, as is the case where a tilting transfer frame is employed at one side of the runway, as in the latter caseonly a portion of the sheet overlies the runway after the frame is moved to horizontal position. Other advantages incident to the construction will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art.

What I claimis:

1. A receiving table for glass sheets, comprising a series of parallel spaced rolls, means for driving the rolls, a tilting transfer frame at the side of the runway pivoted on an axis parallel to the longitudinal center line of the runway at approximately the level of the rolls and comprising a series of arms spaced apart so that when the frame is in horizontal position, the arms will be between the rolls, an abutment'at the ends of the arms mounted for movement toward and from such ends and adapted to engage and support the edge of the glass sheet carried by the frame when it is in upright position, and means operated by the movement of the frame for moving the abutment away from the ends of the arms when the frame is swung to horizontal position.

2. A receiving table for glass sheets, comprising a series of parallel spaced rolls, means for driving the rolls, a tilting transfer frame at the side of the runway pivoted on an axis parallel to the longitudinal center line of the runway at approximately the level of the rolls and comprising a series of arms spaced apart so that when the frame is in horizontal position, the arms will be between the rolls, an abutment at the ends of the arms mounted for movement toward and from such ends and adapted to engage and support the edge of the glass sheet carried by the frame when it is in upright position, spring means for holding the abutment in its position nearest the ends of the arms when the frame is in upright position, and means operatedby the movement of the frame for moving the abutment away from the ends of thearms when the frame is swung to horizontal position.

3. A receiving table for glass sheets, comprising a series of parallel spaced rolls, means for driving the rolls, a tilting transfer frame pivoted at the ends of said rolls on an axis parallel to the longitudinal centerline of the runway and comprising a series of arms spaced apart'so that when the in upright position.

4. A receiving table for glass sheets, comprising a series of parallel spaced rolls, means for driving the rolls, a tilting transfer frame pivoted at the ends of said rolls on an axis parallel to the longitudinal center line of the runway and comprising a series of arms spaced apart so that when the frame is in horizontal position, the rolls will lie between the arms, roll sections carried by the frame in alignment with said rolls when the frame is in horizontal position and having frictional ball joint drving connections with the ends of 4;;

said rolls, with the centers of turning of said ball joint connections coincident with the axis upon which the frame is pivoted, and an abutment adjacent the ends of the arms for engaging the edge of the glass sheet carriedby the frame when it is in upright position.

5. A receiving table for glass sheets, comprising a series of parallelspaced rolls, means for driving the rolls, a tilting transfer frame pivoted at the ends of said rolls on an axis parallel to the longitudinal center line of the runway and comprising a series of arms spaced apart so that when the frame is in horizontal position, the rolls will lie between the arms, roll sections carried by the frame in alignment with said rolls when the frame is in horizontal position and having universal joint connections with the ends of said rolls with their pivot points coincident with the axis upon which the frame is pivoted, an abutment at the ends of the arms mounted for movement toward and from such ends and adapted to engage and support the edge of the glass sheet carried by the frame when it is in upright position, and means operated by the movement of the frame for moving the abutment away from the ends of the arms when the frame is swung to horizontal position.

6. A receiving table for glass sheets, comprising a series of parallel spaced rolls, means for driving the rolls, a tilting transfer frame pivoted at the ends of said rolls on an axis parallel to the longieashes tudinal center line of the runway and comprising a series of arms spaced apart so that when the frame is in horizontal position the rolls will lie between the arms, roll sections carried by the frame in alignment with said rolls when the frame is in horizontal position and having universal joint connections with the ends of said rolls with their pivot points coincident. with the axis upon which the frame is pivoted, an abutment at 10 the ends of the arms mounted for movement toward and from such ends and adapted to engage and support the edge of the glass sheet carried by the frame when it is in upright position, spring means for holding the abutment in its position nearest the ends of the arms when the frame is in upright position, and means operated by the movement of the frame for moving the abutment away from the ends of the arms when the frame is swung to horizontal position.

WILLIAM OWEN. 

